Distracted to an extent by off-field furores surrounding them, two-time former champions Chennai Super Kings would look to bring the focus back on their cricketing prowess
MS Dhoni
Abu Dhabi: Distracted to an extent by off-field furores surrounding them, two-time former champions Chennai Super Kings would look to bring the focus back on their cricketing prowess when they take on a revamped Kings XI Punjab in their IPL opener here today.
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The Chennai outfit, the most dominant team in the past three seasons, is still reeling under the spot-fixing scandal, in which some of its top officials have been implicated besides a few players also being under the scanner.
Coach Stephen Fleming has been candid enough to admit that off-field issues cannot be just brushed aside and are like a distraction for the team, which under normal circumstances comes across as a well-oiled machine on a mission.
“There’s a lot going on, I won’t lie. There are a lot of distractions (leading up to the tournament). I think we were all uncertain about how it was going to play out,” Fleming said in a subtle reference to the betting controversy which is now under a Supreme Court-monitored investigation. But for the spot fixing controversy which has rattled it, CSK led by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni can safely be called one of the most consistent teams in the IPL. This year, CSK would be without some of their most reliable stars, including Michael Hussey and SA Albie Morkel, after losing them in the players’ auction.